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Useful Tips

Visa

From the 1st June of 2015 the Indonesian Government has again updated the list of countries whose citizens have been exempted from paying the fee required to obtain Visa on Arrival (VoA), bringing the total of countries exempted to 45. This residence permit is valid for 30 days and can not be renewed or converted to another type of visa. Make sure you have a passport valid for at least 6 months and with at least one blank page.

For citizens of countries in this list the cost of the visa is US $ 35 payable upon arrival and is renewable for another 30 days. Renewing the visa in this case it’s not complicated: you can go in person to the immigration office seven days before the expiration date of the visa (the process of renewal will require you to go to the immigration office 3 non-consecutive days) or you can opt to contact a specialized agent, this service will cost you about US $ 50/80.

Citizens of countries that are not found in either list must apply for a visa before traveling to Indonesia.

Citizens of all countries which intend to stay for more than 30 (or 60) days shall apply for another type of visa in Indonesian consulates before leaving (e.g. a work visa or a social visa in case you have a sponsor ). There is no way to extend or obtain a different visa once you are in Indonesia, in these cases you should leave the country to eventually return getting another VoA.
It is important to know that the 30 (or 60) days are calculated as follows: the day of arrival is considered as the first day and you must leave the country on the thirtieth day (or sixtieth in case of extension).

Health

Generally it is not required any vaccination. We recommend to protect yourself and your children with mosquito repellent sprays or creams, to avoid contracting the dengue virus, present especially in rural areas.

Tap water is not drinkable though often used by local people for cooking. We recommend however to cook and wash fruits and vegetables with clean water.

Make also use of high protection sunscreen, especially if you are not used to the intensity of the tropical sun.

It is definitely advisable to travel covered by a comprehensive health insurance.

Getting around in Bali

The island is not properly served by a public transport service, there are small buses travelling between some large hotels and the most touristic area of Kuta and large buses for trips to areas distant from the tourist center of the island, however both are absolutely not numerous and frequent.

The most used transport in Bali is the taxi (or driver) and the scooter.

Most taxis do not use the meter, the price is usually determined after a negotiation and one can easily be deceived. We can recommend to use a company in particular, the Bluebird taxis. The drivers of this company use the meter and you can be sure you are paying the right price for the ride (of course it’s good to make sure before you get into the taxi, it is possible that the driver refuses or makes up some excuse, in these cases after a little insistence and some light threat to report the refusal to his superior you can get the driver to operate legally). There’s plenty of taxi in Bali and in the touristic areas is virtually impossible not to find one in a matter of minutes. The problem in this case is quite the opposite: the impressive number of taxis, combined with the many private cars, bring traffic in commercial areas to be more and more uncontrollable.

Renting a scooter or a motorcycle can be a partial solution. This transport is one of the most common on the island, used by both locals and tourists, and makes travel much faster, being easier to avoid the traffic jams in the streets of Bali. The cost for renting a scooter is around 500k Rupiah a day, a fairly cheap price. It is important to add that riding a scooter in Bali can be dangerous – especially among inexperienced riders – due to heavy traffic and the absence of precise rules on the road, therefore we recommend that you do some practice the first few days to get used to the driving style the island.

Weather

Located a few degrees south of the equator, Bali is characterized by a tropical climate with a rainy season that runs from November to March and a dry season that runs from April to October. The rains (not so uncommon in dry season as well) occur in the form of thunderstorms and heavy showers of short duration and are concentrated during the night and morning. Both seasons are definitely pleasant, with the rainy season offering beautiful colors and lush flora while the dry season is best suited to those who wish to spend most of the time on the sunny beaches. The temperatures of the island are high and uniform throughout the year, slightly higher during the rainy season, an average of 23 °C for the minimum and 30 °C for the maximum.

Money

The local currency is the Indonesian Rupiah, the US dollar have been accepted by most for long, but from July 2015 local companies are no longer allowed to cash in currencies other than the Rupiah. We recommend to change your cash in banks and authorized exchange offices, trying to avoid the small exchange offices that crowd the streets of Kuta.

The credit cards or debit cards are accepted in almost all shops and restaurants, but probably not in small warung or local shops. Visa and Mastercard are the most common, while American Express and JCB are less and less accepted.

ATMs are numerous, especially in shopping centers and in touristic areas, most of them connected to the international circuits. You can withdraw from 1.5 million to 3 million Rupiah, usually in 50,000 or 100,000 notes.